S.D. Codified Laws § 40-1-36

This is the official text of S.D. Codified Laws § 40-1-36, part of South Dakota’s Codified Laws — part of the compiled statutory law of South Dakota, published by the state as "Codified Laws." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Unattended animals in standing or parked vehicles--Authority to remove--Liability for removal

Official statutory text

No owner or caretaker may leave a dog, cat, or other small animal unattended in a standing or parked vehicle in a manner that endangers the health or safety of such animal. Reasonable force may be used to remove such animal by any peace officer or agent or officer of any humane society. No such person may be held civilly or criminally liable for any damage caused by removing such animal from a vehicle.

Source: SL 1991, ch 331, § 37.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.